Unforgivable
by cannibal27
Summary: Naruto succeeded in defeating Sasuke at the valley of the end. However instead of being celebrated for it he was expelled from the village. Years later the Akatsuki threat is mounting and Konohagakure wants him back. It's a shame he doesn't want to go back any longer.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but if I did then Sakura wouldn't have been so useless**

 **thanks to me for beta reading**

 **PS: This story is M because violence, cursing, and just in case**

 **Prologue**

* * *

 **Konoha Hospital**

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was white. The white walls, illuminated by the afternoon sun coming from the window. He sat up slowly, every muscle in his body aching all the while. 'where... am I?' Naruto looked around, confused. Then it all came rushing back to him. Sasuke. The mission. "What happened... I don't remember dammit."

As Naruto thought this a second blonde entered the room. "Tsunade baa-chan" he smiled at the woman as she sat down on a chair next to his bed. "Hey baa-chan what's going on? what happened with Sasuke?" The Godaime Hokage gave a deep sigh and readjusted herself in her chair. Seeing this, Naruto frowned "..did Sasuke go away Tsunade baa-chan...? Did he go to that bastard Orochimaru...?"

"No Naruto, you and Sasuke were both found near death at the valley of the end, in what appeared to be the aftermath of a battle, by Kakashi. Luckily he brought you two back here in time. While Sasuke isn't currently awake he is expected to make a full recovery." Tsunade sighed again and opened her mouth to continue. "Howe-"

"That's great baa-chan! Sakura-chan is going to be so happy!" Naruto's smile permeated the room with happiness. It was the happiest that Tsunade had ever seen him, which was quite hard to believe seeing as how he was almost always wearing a goofy grin of some kind on his face. It broke Tsunade's heart. "Maybe I can finally get her to go on a date with me! and When Sasuke gets better I can help him get stronger so he won't try to leave again! Team seven will only get better and better from this point out!" The blonde finally noticed his surrogate aunt's expression. "Right Tsunade baa-chan...?"

His blue eyes seemed to pierce the depths of her heart when he looked at her like that. Asking her to affirm his 'perfect' future in such a manner. Tsunade steeled her resolve and stared back into the depths of those blue eyes. "...the injuries that you and Sasuke were sent to this hospital with are very different Naruto. You were found with major chakra exhaustion as well as a few minor cuts and bruises coating your body. While you would have died from exhaustion if untreated, a full recovery was almost guaranteed. Sasuke on the other hand was found with a sizable portion of his chest seemingly carved out, exposing and cracking the bones that protect his heart and left lung. An examination revealed that he had been hit in the chest with a powerful chakra attack, the wound matches one that would be made by a rasengan densely packed with chakra. Furthermore the wound is permeated with malicious chakra that has almost completely negated his body's natural healing capabilities. To put it simply, it's a miracle that the boy is alive at all."

Naruto's smile fell a bit, it was still there though. Sasuke was going to be fine after all, and most importantly he was back. Unfortunately, Tsunade wasn't done talking yet. "The council has asked that there be a compensation of sorts for the damages done to the last loyal Uchiha of Konohagakure. Therefor..."

Tsunade schooled her features, she couldn't show any weakness. Even if she didn't want to say what she was going to, she had to. The council had decided on this, it was unanimous on the civilian council and more than half of the ninja council agreed with the sentiment. The elders of course also wanted this. Even as Hokage, Tsunade couldn't go against that many council member's wishes. "Naruto Uzumaki, by the authority of the Hokage you are hereby exiled from Konohagakure no Sato until further notice on the grounds that you pose a danger to your fellow leaf shinobi and to Konohagakure no Sato. You have 12 hours to gather your things and leave the village. If you are still here after the allotted time you will be hunted down by anbu and forcefully expelled from the village. Goodbye, Naruto."

After informing Naruto of his predicament Tsunade turned and left the room. She did not wish to see the the result of this order, nor did she wish for Naruto to see the tears that were beginning to percolate in her eyes. "Damn the council, damn all of them. Damn them all to hell" Tsunade drank more that night than she'd had had to drink in years, not since Dan and Nawaki.

Meanwhile Naruto sat in his bed. his face was blank. The remains of that beaming smile had already shattered and he stared straight ahead with an empty expression. It looked off on his face, in every sense. Yet at that moment, in some horrible way, it fit perfectly. Naruto was as empty as he looked. Devoid of all emotion, thought, reason, it was as though his brain had fallen into disrepair upon receiving information that it could not comprehend. Then the tears started to fall. One after another they rolled down his cheeks and made a home in the bed that he sat on.

It was a full thirty minutes before the tears stopped, and another thirty until the blank stare was replaced. Naruto stood up, a look of dejection and resentment on his face. The boy gripped the Crystalline pendant that adorned his neck tightly, before tearing it from the rope that it hung from and throwing it to the floor. He stepped into the hall, not bothering to close the door behind him. Thus began the miserable walk back to his apartment. No that wasn't right, the apartment was no longer his.

* * *

 **2 weeks later; A village near the outskirts of Hi no Kuni**

Naruto sat in a small ramen bar and idly stared at the empty bowl of in front of him. His stomach rumbled as he stared at it, but he could do nothing else. In his hand sat gama-chan, his coin purse which had stayed by his side through thick and thin. It was nearly empty, with only about 80 ryo left in it. Barely enough for the single bowl of ramen that he had eaten. The boy took one last look at the bowl as his stomach rumbled again, then he dropped 60 ryo on the counter next to it and stepped outside.

As the blonde walked down the crowded street he idly noticed that while he had been eating the sun had started to set. He admired it's beauty for a moment before slipping into his thoughts once again. His mind wandered, from his current predicament, to the village, to his friends and pseudo family, to his shoddy house that he found himself missing more and more each day. He would give anything to get it all back, he couldn't though. Even at his age he understood that.

Naruto didn't notice the man until he walked into him. The boy looked up in surprise. The face looking down at him was that of an older man, one in his mid thirties. He had a scar running down his cheek and the beginnings of a beard were evident on his features. "Sorry Mr, I didn't see you there." Naruto said dully before he made to continue his walk. He didn't get very far though as he found the man standing in front of him again, glaring.

"If you think you can walk into me, Gou Kawaguchi, without consequences you've got another thing coming brat." The man, now identified as Gou took a step forward and two other men that Naruto hadn't previously noticed flanked him on either side. It was at this point that Naruto realized there wasn't a single other person on this street.

"Just my luck..." Naruto grumbled to himself.

"So what do you say brat, how about you hand over all your money and valuables and bow before me, the great Gou Kawaguchi. Then maybe I'll let you walk away with your life." Gou drew a large scimitar from his back and took another step forward. The other two men surrounding Naruto each wielded a katana of their own and gave him intimidating looks, similar to the one that adorned Gou's features.

"Have it your way..." Naruto grumbled again as he put his hands into a sort of cross. " _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ (shadow clone jutsu)." Suddenly five more Naruto's appeared, standing back to back in groups of two and facing off against each opponent. Gou and his two men each took a step back in surprise, However after they got over the initial shock that the boy was a shinobi they reaffirmed their glares. That would be their last mistake.

" _Rasengan_ (spiraling sphere)!" The word echoed across the street, spoken by six different voices. Simultaneously three balls of rapidly spinning chakra were formed in the hands of three of the Narutos, and three bandits found those orbs lodged in their guts. All three men fell to the ground, glassy eyed with drool beginning to flow from their mouths. The five clones dispelled and Naruto went back to walking aimlessly, or at least he tried to.

Almost immediately after he defeated the three men, people began to pour out of the nearby buildings. "Our savior!" "He freed us!" "It's over at last!" Naruto looked around in confusion. One after another citizens of the town flowed into the street cheering. All of them praising him like he was some kind of hero.

The blonde regained his composure and made his way to the person that was closest to him. "Excuse me , what's going on? Who was that man?"

"You defeated him yet you don't know?! That's Gou Kawaguchi, he's been terrorizing this town for months. He'd steal anything he wanted and he made us pay him a fee each week. Those that didn't pay were made into... examples..."

"Months? Why didn't you just send for a ninja village? They could've gotten rid of that pushover in a few days."

"He had people watching the gates... If we'd sent anybody out to request help he would've known. Then he would have killed us and fled."

"I see... Well good for you guys, you're free now." Naruto forced a quick smile before he continued on his way.

"Wait!" The man, followed by a few others, called out to Naruto. The boy stopped and turned around. "Is there any way we can repay you? You've freed our village."

Naruto looked at the man before he turned to leave. He needed to find a place to stay for the night... He looked back at the man and grinned. "Is there a reward on this guys head? like enough money to stay at an inn or something?"

"I believe our lord was offering 1500 ryo to anyone who dispatched Gou."

Naruto's grin only grew larger. "I see, 1500 ryo, huh."

* * *

 **5 months later; Forests of Yu no Kuni**

"gotcha." Naruto chuckled to himself as he looked down at the camp from a tall tree. Finding it wasn't much of a challenge of course, the camp was so conspicuous that a blind child could have found it. Regardless, the blonde tended to celebrate even a small victory.

The boy was on the hunt again today. After the incident all those months ago Naruto realized that he could put his ninja skills to use in order to survive. From then on he always checked to see if anyone was willing to pay for the extermination of a bandit group when he came across a town on his travels. He never did stay in one place for long, none of the towns he came to seemed right for him to settle down in. To Naruto the only place that could ever be his true home had abandoned him. So he traveled, he trained, he stayed in a new town every now and then, and he hunted.

He jumped from his perch in the tree and landed nearby silently, masking his chakra as much as he could. They were untrained, couldn't sense chakra anyway, but it was good to play it safe. Besides, Naruto needed the practice. Drawing a kunai from the holster at his hip he made his way forward. The man on guard didn't stand a chance as Naruto appeared behind him and stabbed the kunai through his neck, twisting it and severing muscle, bone, and blood vessels alike. The man was dead before he knew anything was wrong, and Naruto hid his body behind a bush near the entrance.

Once inside he stuck to the shadows, relying on the grey and black clothing that had replaced his orange jacket to hide him from the bandits that meandered around the camp. The fact that they were drunk probably didn't hinder him either.

Once inside the small assassin made his way from tent to tent. In the first tent there were two men in their mid twenties. They were asleep and Naruto easily smothered the both of them. In the next tent there was a single man who was stabbed through the heart and then the lung. In the third tent a man who took a knife through his eye socket and into his brain, his mouth of course covered so he couldn't scream.

This went on for awhile. Naruto went from tent to tent butchering anyone that breathed. His clothes were soaked in blood and he'd had to replace the kunai he was using because it was growing dull. He stood outside the next tent, the fifteenth or something, he'd lost count. There were only a few left though, then he could collect his reward and get the blood out of his clothes. Just as he had done countless times already he entered the tent and slit the man's throat from behind, twisting the blade as he cut, to sever as much as he could. He was about to move on and do the same to the next unlucky bastard he came across, but something caught his eye.

In the corner of the tent, On top of a few dirty blankets that were torn from wear, was a small book. It was well worn, the pages looked old and decrepit and the cover itself was faded. He still saw it though, the red swirl that was on every leaf Ninja flak Jacket. The man had probably just stolen it from somewhere and forgotten about it, but still, for some reason it intrigued Naruto to no end. What was that symbol doing all the way out here in the middle of Yu no Kuni?

He lifted it tentatively and dusted it off. Sure enough the cover was blank except for that red swirl and a single word. 'Uzushiogakure?'

Naruto knew most of the larger hidden villages. There were the big five, there was also Taki, Oto, Ame, Ishi, Kusa, Tani, Yu, and Yuki. There were probably more, but it was strange that such a prominent leaf symbol was displayed on a book that had the name of an unknown village transcribed on it. After pondering this for a moment Naruto shoved the book into one of his jacket pockets. 'I can figure this out after I finish.' Then Naruto was outside again, his next victim already in his sights.

* * *

 **6 weeks later; Entrance to Uzushiogakure**

Naruto looked up at the large gates, emblazoned with what he had learned to be the Uzumaki crest. He grinned "Finally, I was starting to think that book was written by some kind of wack job."

The place had been nigh impossible to find. First of all Uzu no Kuni was an island country, and it wasn't on most maps. Naruto spent the first two weeks after finding that book trying to find someone who knew where the damn place was. The book was, of course, no help at all. It was all about the history of the city, it's people, it's downfall. But of course the author conveniently forgot to say anything about it's location other than mentioning that Uzu no kuni was an island. Then Naruto had to actually get to the island. Nobody was willing to take him there by boat because they weren't sure if it existed at all. Furthermore, even with his immense reserves Naruto wasn't sure if he could water walk all the way there. The boy eventually just give up and bought a boat after looking for over a week. The boat was in shambles now on the islands coasts.

Somehow the most annoying part though was finding the village after he got to the island. Naruto knew he was in Uzu no Kuni when he crashed, the Uzumaki crests carved into nearby trees he found told him that. But damn this village was hard to find. He was wandering through the forest for seemingly forever. From marks on trees that he'd left, Naruto knew that he had gone in multiple circles. It should have been a relatively small island, yet Naruto swore he had been to every single place on the island except for the damn village. That is until now.

He stepped forward, admiring the wooden doors with red designs carved through them. Looking further he saw that where the handle on a gate would normally reside there was a sealing formula. Naruto recognized it immediately. It was a special seal that the book had shown a picture of. The seal only reacted positively to Uzumaki blood, anyone else who tried to use it would find that it didn't work, sometimes the seal where even set up to negatively activate when in contact with a non Uzumaki.

Naruto hesitated as he looked at the seal. All he had to do was prick his thumb and put his hand there, then he would finally know for sure that he had a family. Naruto Uzumaki would finally belong somewhere for certain. But... what if it didn't work? Maybe he wasn't really an Uzumaki, after all Uzumaki's were apparently identifiable by their fiery red hair. Maybe it was a coincidence, or Jiji gave him the name because he admired the Uzumaki clan. Naruto had no place to go except for here. He could be a travelling bounty hunter forever, but that kind of life sounded terrible to the blonde boy...

Naruto shook his head 'this is no time to second guess myself. I'm here, I have nothing better to do, I should just get it over with.' He closed his eyes and pulled out a kunai, pricking his thumb and pressing it against the seal. Nothing happened at first, then there was a creaking noise. Naruto slowly opened his eyes again and smiled. If anyone else was present they may have said that he looked like he had been injected with pure, undiluted joy.

The doors opened, just wide enough for him to enter the compound.

The village was mostly rubble, not a single building was standing. Even so, Naruto walked through the gates and into the ruined village grinning like a mad man.

As he walked through the street's though, Naruto's happiness began to dwindle. He had a family, but they were gone now. He looked to the remains of one house and saw a young couple happily moving there things in. In the remains of the market district he could imagine a throng of people, talking and trading goods. He saw Ninja training in the more open areas near the edges of the village and he saw kids running through the streets. He saw beautiful buildings that would never be again. Most of all he saw his mother or his father, or both, he didn't know which one was the Uzumaki. They were all dead now, and the village was destroyed as well.

While he pondered all of this Naruto noticed something very peculiar in the rubble of one of the larger buildings. Another blood seal. He walked up to it and carefully pressed his thumb into it after making another incision. There was a rumbling, and then in front of him the ground started moving. There was a split, soon after the ground itself seemed to open up like a giant sliding door. Then everything stopped as quickly as it started and in front of Naruto there was a staircase that seemed to descend into an abyss. The Uzumaki heir peered down into the passageway. It looked untouched, saved from the destruction of Uzushiogakure.

He carefully took a step into the torch lit passage. Then another. And another. Naruto made his way deeper into the hidden area slowly but surely. He didn't want to set off any hidden traps that his family may have set. More than that though he was just thinking about what could be at the end of the passage. Eventually the stairs gave way to a corridor. Naruto kept walking down this corridor as well. Finally he came across a door. It was made in the same style as the gates to Uzushiogakure were, Uzumaki crest included, the only difference being that it was only about two and a half meters tall. There was also another blood seal in place of a handle which Naruto quickly activated.

As the door opened the boys grin renewed itself. There were scrolls. More scrolls than he could count. More scrolls than he could see. More scrolls than he had seen in one place in his entire life. There were other doors that probably led to other rooms too. "What...is this?" Naruto spoke in a voice of awe as he entered the room.

He made his way to the closest scroll and lifted it up slowly. Upon closer inspection he noticed a blood seal on it. Of course there was a blood seal... Naruto unsealed the scroll and looked inside. It was a technique. He opened another scroll, another technique. He opened more. There was a seal diagram, taijutsu katas, kenjutsu katas, ninjutsu, family history.

A thought wormed its way into Naruto's head as he looked through the scrolls with growing vigor. The book he found had stated that the techniques of the Uzumaki clan had never been found. The Clan's secrets died with the village. At least that's what people thought.

Naruto replaced all the scrolls he had opened at and grinned. He surveyed the room and his grin only widened. There was so much to learn here, so much for him to see and use and do. The Uzumakis may be gone, but they had left him this. With this he could honor them, and more importantly he could continue their legacy.

"It looks like I have a lot of work to do."

* * *

 **AN: So that's the prologue, pretty neat if I do say so myself. Anyway I have a few things to say in regards to this story.**

 **First of all if you like it, that's cool, but don't expect a bunch of updates. I'm not sure if, when, or how often I will update this story. Heck This could be the only thing I post on my account ever. And I definitely won't be posting consistently so don't accept it. Heck I don't even know if my writing style is going to be consistent, it kinda feels like it won't. If I ever think I won't come back to this story I'll put it up for adoption. That hopefully won't happen.**

 **Second of all I have a basic idea of how I'm going to do this story but I have no story board and definitely no concrete plans. I'm basically winging it as I go. If I was the kind of guy that was good at stuff like that this would not be my first story. So if you have any ideas feel free to tell me. Also feel free to give questions/comments/concerns.**

 **Feel free to review and favorite, or don't, your choice. let's see, what else...**

 **I had the idea for this story after I started reading The Golden Fox by Nyce456. I won't go into detail but basically while I like the basic concept of that story, which is similar to the concept of this one as a result, I couldn't read the story itself. The grammar was just too bad and I couldn't do it. So I decided to write this. Go check it out, maybe you'll like it.**

 **Finally I want to give people a heads up that Naruto may become pretty overpowered in this story. I know a lot of people don't like that and depending on how I feel as I'm writing it Naruto may not be overpowered. It's just that sometimes when I'm reading Naruto stories I want to see Naruto completely destroy all of his enemies, so that's what I may go for in this. Guilty pleasure of mine and all that.**

 **Anyway, Have a nice day, I'm going to 'beta-read' this now**


	2. Old Friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't want to own Naruto. If you think what Kishimoto did to Naruto is bad then you don't want to know how terribly I'd end it.**

 **AN: Depending on where you thought this would go, prepare to be disappointed.**

 **Thanks to me for beta reading**

 **Chapter 1: Old Friends**

* * *

 **Undisclosed** **location**

The last of the chakra finally receded into the statue's mouth as an iris and a pupil formed in one of it's glassy white eyes. Most of the shadowy figures that stood on the statue's fingers visibly sighed in relief.

"Damn that's always so fucking annoying! And I haven't killed anyone for 3 days, If you keep me here much longer you'll be next leader-sama"

"Shut up Hidan!"

"Oh Shut your own fucking mouth Kakuzu!"

Ignoring the yelling, one of the figures turned to another, the one with what appeared to be a Venus flytrap sprouting from it's torso. "Zetsu what is the status of the Kyūbi jinchūriki"

"Unfortunately leader-sama we still cannot find a trace of him. It is as if the Kyūbi jinchūriki simply does not exist."

The man referred to as 'Leader-Sama' made no indication that he was bothered by the news and turned back to the other figures. "If that is the case, then for now let us go our separate ways once more. You are all to keep an eye out for the Kyūbi jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki."

At his command the other figures in the room faded out of existence, only he and the figure to his right remained.

"It's only one more Nagato, then we'll finally have peace."

"Indeed Konan" The two figures turned around and left the room

* * *

 **At the same time; A Village in Hi No Kuni**

It was a relatively normal day in Mori-cho. People were going about their business as usual. The shops were getting an average amount of customers. The notorious group of kids was planning their daily prank on the local chef. If anything was even slightly out of place it was the man that was walking through the town square.

He wore black pants and a grey form fitting shirt. two red belts were fastened around his waist, on which hung multiple scrolls and pouches filled with various ninja tools. A black Haori with red flame designs at the hem and sleeves and a red swirl on the back fluttered behind him as he walked. The red and black hilt of a wakizashi peaked out over the collar of the Haori. There were whisker marks on his cheeks and his piercing blue eyes looked from place to place with the excitement of a child. His medium length, messy blonde hair was being blown about in the wind, causing it to fall over his head in a mess. The ninja's presence would have been intimidating, if normal still. However there was one thing that did make him abnormal, by anyone's standards. He was talking to himself, he wasn't very quiet about it either.

"Ah I really hope there's a good ramen joint around here." Naruto had an air of excitement about him. His eyes were shining and one of his patented megawatt smiles was plastered across his face.

 **'Naruto, you should secure a place to eat, or figure out a what you're going to do now first'**

"Come on Kurama, I haven't had ramen in 3 years. Heck all I did have to eat was wild animal meat, which I had to hunt and cook myself. I'll deal with that stuff later, I promise, but ramen comes first."

 **'I can't believe you sometimes Naruto'** Kurama sighed and lay down, today wasn't going to be boring, that was for sure.

Naruto chuckled and went back to looking for a place to eat. While looking around he slipped into his own thoughts. '3 years huh...' He had found Uzushiogakure roughly 3 years ago. It felt weird thinking that, it seemed like it was only yesterday when he was lost in the woods for days looking for a village he wasn't 100% sure existed. Looking back on it Naruto supposed that he probably had so much trouble due to all the seal arrays he'd found that were designed particularly to keep people out of the village. They did everything from mask chakra to distort the senses of those on the island. It's no wonder he had such a hard time.

After he had learned everything that he could from the scrolls in Uzushiogakure, at least with his level of patience, he returned them to their places in the Uzumaki vault and left. Naruto was of course confident that he could return whenever he wanted to and that the many seals on the village would keep it hidden from anyone else who may try to enter it. After all he'd added a few more to make it even harder to find. Originally he was going to try and build a boat to get to the mainland, but after deliberating about it he'd decided he would try water walking back. Surprisingly the trip had only taken a few hours, furthermore Naruto wasn't even very tired afterwards. Maybe he could have done the same thing back when he was heading to Uzu in the first place. His reserves were a lot bigger now though, it's probably better that he hadn't taken the risk.

Naruto chuckled again as he thought back on everything that had happened over the last 3 years. They certainly were fun. But he missed people, and actual beds, and ramen. God he missed ramen.

Then he saw it. The banners. The bar stools. The smell. At that moment Naruto felt like he was looking at the most beautiful thing in the world. He almost fainted from sheer bliss as he entered the stand and took a seat. He looked the man behind the counter with the eyes of a man in love. "I'll have ten bowls of miso chashu pork ramen please."

The man looked at him funny. "10? Do you have friends coming soon or something?" Naruto shook his head, taking the time to absorb the wondrous sent that filled the air.

The man shrugged. "okay then..." With that he went into the back to start preparing the large order with his assistant.

Naruto sat in silence as the ramen was being made. The anticipation was killing him. 3 years. 3 years without the bliss of ramen. Just the thought made him sick. Then the first bowl came. needless to say it was gone a moment late. Each bowl came and went in the same manner after until ten empty bowls sat next to a 17 year old boy who looked like he'd just had his first time with the hottest woman alive, won the lottery, and gotten tackled by a horde of cute animals, at the same time. Aforementioned boy left a wad of bills on the table, probably more than the ramen cost, and walked off, seemingly in a state of bliss.

That is until he turned off the main street and walked into an alley. Then a switch was flipped. His features which had all emanated true happiness a second earlier became guarded. His eyes seemed to suddenly become cold and calculating and while he still grinned it was clear that it was just for show. "Come out, I know you're there."

 **'You're welcome for the heads up brat.'**

'Yeah yeah I get it, you're better at sensing chakra than me, big whoop.' Naruto eyed the man who seemed to melt out of the shadows in front of him. He knew that there were more waiting in the shadows, but this was fine for now. Especially since Naruto recognized the man. He was taller now, like Naruto was, and he now sported a jōnin flak jacket among other new garments of clothing. But that spiky black ponytail and bored demeanor were unforgettable. "You just had to cut my lunch short, didn't you Shikamaru.

Shikamaru allowed himself a small chuckle. How was that cutting his lunch short? This wasn't the time for games though. Damn this was troublesome. He had thought that being posted at such an out of the way town like this would ensure that he could indulge in shogi and watching clouds all day and night. Why did he always have to be the one to get 'lucky' like this. "Naruto, it's been a long time."

"It has, how's everyone back in Konoha? Are Sasuke and Sakura doing all right?" Naruto allowed his smile to grow more prominent as he went on. "I bet they were totally lost without me, right?"

Shikamaru sighed. "You can find out yourself Naruto. After all, you're heading back with me."

"Now why would I do that?" The boys gaze hardened a little.

"Because that's what I'm here to do in the first place. There are people looking for you all over Hi no Kuni. In fact you're the number one priority of all five of the elemental nations at the moment. As the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi you need to return to Konoha at once. Unfortunately, it appears that I'm the 'lucky winner' who gets to escort you back."

Naruto's grin completely vanished at the mention of his jinchūriki status. Of course they would want him back. After all he held their precious demon fox, one of the strongest weapons in the elemental nations. He'd read the scrolls in the Uzushiogakure library. He knew what he really was to that village. Honestly he was confused why they had dissociated such a weapon with their village in the first place. If he had loved the village than they could have had him under their thumbs ages ago. "You're the lucky one indeed. You get to go back to the village and inform Tsunade that I won't be returning anytime soon."

"Naruto this is serious! I don't know where you've been or what you've been doing. But this is bigger than either of us. Akatsuki is-"

"Akatsuki? You mean the group that Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are in? The one's hunting jinchūriki?"

"Yeah they're hunting jinchūriki, jinchūriki like you. The fact that you know is all the more reason that you should come back."

'You hear that Kurama, looks like we still have some assholes looking to get their butts whooped by yours truly.' Naruto grinned inwardly at the thought. While a peaceful life was nice, he hadn't fought anything other than shadow clones for the past 3 years. Technically he battled Kurama a few times in the seal, but that didn't really count. So to say the young man was looking forward to testing his skills against actual people after all this time would be an understatement.

 **'Sounds like it'll be a good way to pass the time.'** The fox, who hadn't had an actual battle in over a century could only look forward to the prospect, Naruto had granted him the use of his 5 senses after all. To feel such fights through Naruto's body, it sounded exciting.

"That's great and all Shikamaru, but I'm not going back to Konohagakure."

"Naruto This isn't about you and any grudge you may have against the village!" Shikamaru was beginning to grow frustrated. How could Naruto not see the danger he was in, and more importantly the danger the world could be in. "Look Naruto I'm going to be straight with you. You're the last one. Every other jinchūriki has been captured, their bijū extracted, and the host killed. That isn't even the worst news. I received word the other day from Lady Tsunade. Kumo was destroyed by a single member of the group. their Raikage is dead and their jinchūriki, the only one left besides you, was captured and most likely killed. These people can flatten cities. They can defeat the strongest people in the elemental nations. You need to return to Konohagakure right now! As the last jinchūriki you need to be put under heavy security so that the Akatsuki can't capture you!" Shikamaru glared at Naruto, and Naruto only glared back at him, his expression didn't change in the slightest.

"If that's the case than you should want me out of Konoha just as bad as I want to be away from it. If I was there it would just be begging this man, whoever he is, to come destroy it too. Part of me wants to return now, if only to see that god forsaken place burn to the ground. The people of Konoha don't deserve it though. I'll say it again Shikamaru. Go tell Tsunade that I won't be returning to the leaf." He gave a small smile before returning his face to it's neutral expression. "And who knows, maybe we can share some conversation over a bowl of ramen if we meet again under better circumstances." At that Naruto turned to leave.

"Ninpō: Kagemane no Jutsu(Ninja art: Shadow Possession Jutsu)!" A shadow stretched out from the Jōnin's feet and attached itself to the dark clothed young man, stopping him in his place. At this moment two ninja wearing animalesque masks Shunshined to the exit from the alley, blocking Naruto's escape route. "This is so troublesome... Naruto this is a matter of international security, I've been ordered to bring you back regardless of anything you had to say on the matter. I'm sorry that we couldn't work this out amicably." The Raven haired boy gave an apologetic smile as the anbu proceeded towards naruto, about to pump him full of so much tranquilizer that even an elephant would be instantly out of it afterwards. Naruto would live thanks to the Kyūbi, but he'd be out for at least half a week.

"No, I'm sorry Shikamaru, I too wish this could have ended better." Then Naruto was moving. It wasn't as if there had been any strain on the Kagemane, or even a struggle. One second he was completely held in place by Shikamaru's jutsu and the next second the jutsu was broken. Before Shikamaru had even fully recovered from the backlash he heard the sound of steel against steel. Shikamaru's vision refocused in time to see Naruto and one of the anbu that had been sent to assist Shikamaru crossing blades. He barely had time to be surprised that Naruto was attacking his fellow Konoha ninja before the man fell. Naruto had created a shadow clone somehow during the half second when Shikamaru wasn't looking. The clone and Naruto were fighting back to back, each engaging one anbu member. While the clone kept the other man off his back Naruto was able to swiftly overpower the anbu he had been fighting. His blade, a wakizashi that appeared to be channeling wind chakra, cut right through the man's sword and then through his torso, the man never stood a chance.

While this was happening Naruto's clone headbutted the anbu he had been fighting. After disorienting the woman, the clone quickly formed a rasengan and shoved it into her gut. She screamed in pain as the rasengan that seemed to glow orange with flames was forced through her muscles, intestines, liver, and stomach. While the wound appeared cauterized by the time the woman fell to the ground, it was painfully obvious she wouldn't live from the injury. All of this happened in the approximate 5 seconds that it took Shikamaru to rebound from the strain of having a kagemane of that level torn off like it was a spider web.

The clone dispelled as Naruto quickly cleaned the blood off his sword before re sheathing it. He turned to Shikamaru and gave him a glare. "I will say this one last time Shikamaru. Return to Konohagakure no Sato and inform the Godaime Hokage that I will not be coming back any time soon." Then Naruto offered a sad smile, the blonde in clothes that had been stained with Konoha ninja blood, wearing a sword that had taken Konoha ninja life, gave the other man a seemingly genuine smile. "The offer still stands by the way. I would love to go for ramen with you sometime." And with that, he was gone.

* * *

 **2 Hours Later; A river in Hi no Kuni's forests**

Naruto Lay in a sleeping bag listening to the sound of the rushing water just a couple meters away from him. His clothes were drying nearby and his assorted weapons were spread out in arm's reach. He was cold, the only thing he had protecting him from the elements was his underwear and the sleeping bag, but he'd manage. He couldn't walk around in bloody clothes after all, he wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

"So They're all dead huh..." He was the only one left out of the 9 people in the world that held the title jinchūriki. It made him feel lonely to think about it. He was the only one now who could understand what it was like. The only one who knew the looks, the hate, and the resentment that a single person can have thrust towards them. He was almost completely alone now in life. Only one or two people were truly left. "We'll kick all of their asses Kurama. We'll avenge the others, we'll do it our way, and on our terms, and it'll be great."

 **'I'll look forward to it then, brat.'**

"Hey, I'm 17 now, you can't call me that anymore."

 **'I've been alive for a millennium, You'll always be a brat to me.'** The fox that was feared for crushing mountains with a swing of it's tails and sending a hidden village into chaos chuckled. The boy who would walk through a sea of blood if it meant protecting his bonds did the same."

As the sun set further into the treeline and darkness fell around the lone boy, he smiled. Sure He had lost his first home, the closest thing he had to family, and his entire lifestyle. That was all in the past now though, and he couldn't help but think that maybe things weren't so bad after all. His eyes closed, and his mind began to drift off somewhere. The Golden Haired Teen said one last thing before he finally fell asleep. "I'll never let them take you from me, Kurama..."

* * *

 **AN: So that was the second chapter of this story. It came out a lot faster than I thought it would, probably faster than anyone else thought it would too. I didn't have anything better to do today though, and I was on a roll, so I just kept writing after I published the prologue. Do not expect an update for awhile, it took me a month to write the prologue and honestly if you set your expectations low than you'll only be pleasantly surprised. Also sorry if it's a bit short, they can't all be as long as the prologue though and if I stretch it out to much it may get boring.**

 **Anyway this is probably going to set the tone for the rest of the story. The prologue was a prologue, it was Naruto's backstory. It will lead to his driving forces throughout the story, but this chapter is the one that set up the main plot points. i.e.** **Akatsuki.**

 **Few points I want to make. First of all Naruto kind of has a blood lust in this story if you couldn't tell. After killing for so long to get by he just kind of started to be numb to it. In fact part of him enjoys it. So he probably won't be going easy on most people.**

 **Next up, Kurama. Kurama is, weirdly enough, my favorite character from Naruto. It's just something about the mean demon fox turning out to be a kinda nice guy that was just hurt by a lot of humans that makes him a good character. So he was always going to be involved like this. I'll probably put in some information on how they're friendship started next chapter, or maybe I'll add it to this chapter when I'm writing next chapter. Anyway Kurama is here, he's staying, if you don't like it for some reason than that's too bad.**

 **Well anyway feel free to favorite, follow, review, or don't. I don't really care too much. Even though I will say that those certainly motivated me to write this chapter now instead of later. Oh also please feel free to critique anything in this, I don't write that much, or ever really, so if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes, or something is weird with the plot or a scene in your opinion, hit me up. Anyway, have a nice day.**


	3. Storm on the Horizon

**Disclaimer: I barely own this computer, there is no way in hell that I own Naruto**

 **Thanks to my psychotic friend for beta reading**

 **Chapter 2: Storm on the Horizon**

* * *

 _Naruto lay on his back, panting. A sheen of sweat covered his face and exposed torso. It had been a year since he'd first come to Uzushiogakure. The place still looked mostly the same as it had when Naruto had first arrived. Rubble was littered across the ground all over the hidden village. Only the training ground, which Naruto currently lay in, was pristine like it had been long ago._

 _From his position on the ground Naruto noticed that the sun had begun to set below the city walls. "Well then, that's all for today." The blonde forced himself into a sitting position. "My chakra is almost all gone and my muscles feel like shit. I still need to catch dinner too. It would be a shame if I went hungry tonight because I trained too hard." He spoke to nobody, and of course, nobody replied._

 _The 15 year old stood up and made for the village gates as he had every few days since he'd arrived. His footsteps echoed on the stone pathways that spread throughout the mass of fallen buildings, devoid of life other than him. Walking through the expanse of empty buildings, Naruto thought back to his time in Konoha as he had countless times before. He couldn't help but compare these empty streets to those ones, constantly filled with life. The streets of his past were always crammed with people who each had their own lives to cater to. Even if all of them scorned him, he couldn't help but think; at least they were there to scorn him in the first place._ _Naruto missed them. He missed the friends he had just made. He missed Kakashi sensei and Sakura and Sasuke. He even missed the civilians who did nothing but talk behind his back and treat him like some kind of demon._

 _However these thoughts of his changed nothing. The streets stayed empty and the only noises he heard were the clacking of his sandals against stone and now the creaking of the opening wooden gates._

 _Naruto sighed. Was all of this even worth anything. He was becoming strong, sure. He'd made leaps and bounds since first coming to Uzu. The Uzumaki clan certainly was living on through him, at least as far as he was concerned. But there was nobody left to fight for. Nobody left to acknowledge him. If Naruto became truly strong then what? His village had expelled him. Uzu had no population to speak of beyond Naruto himself either. Even if he made a name for himself as an Uzumaki, Even if he became the strongest ninja in the world, what was the point if nobody was there to stand beside him. If nobody was there to talk to him and offer him advice, or help him out when he couldn't do something on his own. Not for the first time, Naruto wondered if it was even worth living with a life like that wai-_

 _The Uzumaki heir was brought out of his stupor by a spike of pain in his arm. Stopping on a tree branch, he looked down at the offending limb to see a scratch running across it. He looked at it for a moment, perturbed that he had been so distracted as to allow such a large, if shallow, cut to be carved into his arm by a mere tree. Naruto sighed, and went back to the hunt, resolving to stay focused this time and not be so careless as to let a stray branch draw his blood._

 _An hour later Naruto sat by the fire he'd made in the middle of the training grounds, happily eating the venison he'd been able to procure. He'd be able to make the deer last a few meals before he needed to go for the hunt again. That was good, tomorrow he could train until his body was barely able to move. Naruto preferred to train himself to exhaustion like that. In a way it was relaxing. He didn't have to think about anything if he could barely think, after all._

 _As he bit into the piece of meat He'd been munching on Naruto absentmindedly peered down at his arm. The scratch was gone, as he expected. Not even a scar remained. The Kyūbi certainly did good work. "The Kyūbi huh... I Haven't talked to the old fox in a while. Not since the Chūnin exams if I remember correctly...Or maybe it was that time me and pervy sage went to find Tsunade..."_

 _Naruto paused, moments away from taking another bite of the Venison in his hands. "The_ _Kyūbi..." He had forgotten all about the embodiment of hatred that many respectfully referred to as the nine tailed fox. He wasn't entirely alone. Sure there weren't any other people in Uzu but there was another intelligent being. To hear a voice besides his own. That was all he wanted..._

 _Thus, after Naruto finished his meal he sat down cross legged by the fire and, against his better judgement, he meditated. He closed his eyes and focused solely on the visage of pure anger, hate, and fear that he remembered from his last encounter with the great fox. He remembered it's deep voice, filled with malice, it's claws that were easily each the size of a human being, and most of all the eyes that seemed to beckon him closer, trying to devour him whole._

 _Naruto opened his eyes again to find himself back in that place. In front of him stood a wall of steel bars. In the middle of which there was a single piece of paper with the word seal on it. He himself stood on what appeared to be a shallow layer of water. And of course, glaring at him was the being which he had just envisioned._

 _ **"I see you've returned, brat. What is it that you want?"**_

 _Naruto looked up at the Kyūbi, a being that was renowned for being so strong that it could level a mountain with a swing of it's tails. He gave the beast a big dopey grin. "I came to talk to you."_

 _The beast stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he had some motive behind saying such a thing or if he was simply stupid. Then he gave the blonde a truly menacing glare. **"If it weren't for this damned seal I would kill and eat you for your insolence. I have nothing to say to you, leave."**_

 _Naruto feigned a thoughtful look before reaffirming his previous smile. "But doesn't it get lonely in that cage all day? I'm sure you wouldn't really mind a conversation every once in awhile."_

 _ **"I will not be made a fool of. BEGONE!"** The annoyed beast roared at him to the best of its ability. _

_The next thing Naruto knew he was back in his meditative stance by the fire. Despite himself, he grinned. The first voice he had heard since coming to Uzu may have been dark and filled with malice. But he still preferred it to the silence that had preceded it._

* * *

 **Near a river in Hi no Kuni's forests**

Naruto awoke to the sound of forest birds chirping. He remained still for a moment, stretching his senses out across the forest. Only when he was certain that nobody was near enough to bother him did Naruto allow a small smile to cross his face. Last night's dream had been pleasant, certainly better than the prior day had been. After laying in bed for another minute the blonde finally forced himself to get up. As he stood a chill crawled across the teen's skin, reminding him that his clothes were still strung up by ninja wire on a nearby tree.

Naruto had chosen to camp in a small clearing next to a river. His sleeping bag was in the center of said clearing, the river was on one side and his clothes were strung up opposite it. Near his now dry clothes were the remains of the campfire he had made dinner at the night before. Right next to the sleeping bag was his sword, a few kunai, and scrolls containing every weapon he owned.

Naruto sighed as he walked over to his nearly dry clothes. The campfire from the night before had assisted in drying them off, but he hadn't wanted to keep it going long. Along the same line of reasoning Naruto hadn't wanted to use fire chakra to dry the clothes the night before either. Having to deal with someone coming across him as he slept would have been annoying. It was no longer night though, and he was no longer tired nor averse to such an encounter. Thus the teen covered his hand in a thin layer of fire chakra and began drying off his clothes.

Once he was ready, Naruto sealed his sleeping bag and holstered all his gear. He took one last look around to make sure nothing had been forgotten. Satisfied, the teen leapt into the trees and began making his way through the forest.

 **'Naruto, what are we going to do now?'** Kurama's voice resonated throughout the shinobi's head.

Naruto nearly misjudged his jump and slammed into the branch he was jumping to. Recovering, a sheepish grin fell onto the Shinobi's features. 'That's... a good question Kurama. I suppose I shouldn't walk around the elemental nations without a plan when apparently everyone and their mother wants to know where I am...'

The fox snorted at the blonde's lack of response. **'You didn't even think about it huh, why am I not surprised? What were you planning to do, get attacked whenever you entered a new town?'**

'I mean, that wouldn't be such a big deal... They wouldn't be able to touch me anyway...'

 **'We both know that if that happened you would be at your wits end. You'd probably do something stupid eventually, like wipe an entire town off the map.'**

'I'm not that bad!'

 **'Just a month ago you blew up around 2 kilometers of forest because you left your sword somewhere and you wanted to find it quickly. You're lucky the damn thing was built to withstand basically anything.'**

Naruto sighed in defeat. 'Anyway...you asked what I was going to do now? I suppose that that question has a pretty simple answer. I'll do what I've always done and protect what's important to me. If anyone tries to stop me from doing that then they'll pay for it with their lives, just like the Akatsuki will.' A manic smile graced the whiskered man's features as he continued to talk to the chakra beast. 'The villages think they need to defend me? That I need to be put under lock and key so nobody can hurt me or capture you? If anyone wants to try anything like that then they might as well keel over and die right now!'

A similar grin to Naruto's crossed Kurama's face as Naruto spoke, making him look just like the monster people made him out to be. **'I knew there was a reason I liked you brat.'**

'What'd I say about calling me that.' The blonde pouted for a moment before finishing his previous train of thought. 'Anyway I'll just try to stay under the villages radar for now, it would be annoying if they decided to attempt a show of force in order to drag me back. The jinchūriki are usually a well guarded secret within a village which means these Akatsuki will probably find me somehow anyway, and when they do I'll be waiting. I'll make them regret ever trying to take you from me. And who knows, maybe after I take em down the five great nations will stay out of my way in the future. That'd be nice.'

As he and Kurama finished up their mental conversation Naruto exited the tree tops and arrived at his destination. A civilian road. A quick glance showed that it stretched on for miles in either direction and was easily wide enough for a noble and their entourage to travel down. It was most likely one of the major roads in Hi no Kuni that connected the larger cities.

Satisfied, the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi turned and began to walk casually down the road he had come across. The next village was a ways off, and while he could get there the same way he'd gotten to the road in the first place Naruto figured it would be cathartic to take a nice leisurely stroll to his next destination.

* * *

 **Later that day; The Hokage Tower in Konohagakure no Sato**

Shikamaru stood stock still. His hands which were usually in his pockets were flattened against his sides. His eyes, filled with sadness, and a sliver of fear, were transfixed directly in front of him. Of course the object of that stare was none other than Tsunade Senju.

The Godaime Hokage glared at the poor man. "Report Shikamaru!" Her voice radiated authority tinged with something else, maybe anger, Shikamaru couldn't tell.

"Lady Tsunade I made sure anything of importance was written in the mission report that I sent you by messenger hawk. There isn't anything I can tell you that you don't alr-" Shikamaru was stopped short when the woman in front of him slammed her hand down onto her desk, sending loose papers flying everywhere.

"I Want to hear it from you Shikamaru." The Hokage ground out every word. She was evidently doing her best not to raise her voice.

A dejected sigh escaped from the jōnin's lips, there was no getting out of this apparently. "Of course lady Tsunade... My standing mission was to be posted in a town on the coast of Hi no Kuni called Mori-cho. With me I had two Anbu that went by Taka and Risu." Shikamaru looked down, suddenly extremely interested in the wooden floor of the office. "They...are now both deceased. We had been stationed in the town for seven days when we sensed the Kyūbi's chakra. There wasn't much of it but it was there. We investigated and found Naruto in the town. He seemed to notice us and left the stand to confront us elsewhere.

Shikamaru's face only grew more grim as he kept speaking and Tsunade's expression mirrored this, both knowing what he was going to say next. "Naruto seemed the same at first... He asked how Sakura and Sasuke were doing at the very least. However his demeanor seemed to change when I mentioned Konoha. Naruto adamantly refused to come back. He wouldn't listen to reason, deciding to stay out of Konoha, even if it could endanger the world. We were left with no choice so the anbu and I attempted to immobilize him" Shikamaru grimaced as he remembered what came next. "Naruto broke my Kagemane like it was nothing... he killed my team in cold blood. He killed them both before I could move to stop him. Then he left, apologizing as if it couldn't have been avoided."

Shikamaru looked his superior directly in the eyes as he spoke his next words. Shikamaru didn't like the words that were about to come out of his mouth, not by any means. Naruto had always been such a nice guy. Sure he was an idiot that seemed to always find himself in some sort of trouble or another, but he was a genuinely good person. He'd always seemed to light up any room that he would walk into. And when he said things, people felt inclined to believe them, to believe in him. It was unfortunate, but Shikamaru had to come to terms with the facts, so did his Hokage, that the Naruto they knew seemed to be gone.

"Naruto is clearly not an ally to Konoha. If we are going to stop the akatsuki from achieving their goal, whatever it is, than we need to treat Naruto as if he is hostile and capture him in the same manner." Tsunade seemed to freeze up as the words left his mouth. She glared at him and he saw it in her eyes. Denial. Anger. Anguish. They were all there.

She rose from the desk, and Shikamaru's every instinct told him that it was in his best interest to run. His saving grace came in the form of Shizune, the Hokage's aid that was always present in the office, like the Hokage's shadow. He'd forgotten she was there, but damn was he glad that she was as he saw her put a hand on Tsunade's shoulder. A whole conversation seemed to pass between the two as their eyes met and after a tense moment Tsunade slumped back into her chair. Shikamaru visibly sighed in relief.

After a moment of silence Tsunade mumbled something barely coherent. "You're dismissed, Nara." That was all that Shikamaru needed to hear, he turned on his heels and exited the office as fast as he could while still keeping a semblance of composure.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Back inside the office Tsunade was still sitting at her desk, Shizune once again had her hand placed on the woman's shoulder.

Tsunade wasn't sure what to feel. Naruto was alive. He was alive and she had already thanked every god she knew of the moment that Shikamaru's mission report had arrived via hawk. After he was exiled Tsunade would hear things every so often about a blonde shinobi who was traveling around collecting bounties. But those reports had stopped coming in 3 years ago. Tsunade had feared the worst and a part of her felt that the widespread search going on across the nations was pointless. But he was alive. When she read that she almost burst into tears out of joy, until she read the rest of the report that is

Naruto had killed two Konoha anbu. He did it like they were nothing, minor distractions at most. She simply couldn't fathom it. The mission report must have been altered, one of the villages betrayed them and wanted to capture Naruto for personal gain. She called Shikamaru in so he could verify that the mission report was tampered with. She'd all but made plans to accuse Kiri of breaking the alliance. But the Nara only parroted what she'd read hours earlier. That couldn't be possible. Shikamaru had to be lying to her. He had to be under a genjutsu or something. Naruto wouldn't do something like that. Naruto was a nice kid who she was forced to cast out against her will. As long as she had known him he had never done anything close to what Shikamaru was telling her he did.

Tsunade was brought out of her thoughts as she felt a strong sharp pain. She looked at it to see that she'd been gripping the shards of the broken hokage's necklace and that they were cutting into her palm. The one she'd given him. The one he'd left behind all those years ago.

She couldn't take it anymore. tears began to stream down the Godaime's face. She'd done this. Whether or not she was forced to that didn't change the fact that she had done this. There was no way around it. Shikamaru wouldn't lie over something like this. The proof was there, and no matter how much she wanted to deny it the truth wouldn't change.

The Godaime Hokage wept openly. By her side stood Shizune who silently watched over her lady. Both mourned as their last hopes of ever returning things to how they had once been went up in smoke.

* * *

 **AN: Hey everyone, I'm back again. Now I know what you're thinking. I uploaded 2 chapters in a day then took a month-ish to upload another one. My response is that I said I would upload whenever I felt like it because I write whenever I feel like it. On that note I want to apologize. I rushed old friends out in excitement because this was my first story. That cost the chapter a lot of quality. I may get around to rewriting parts of it at some point because of that, but if I do I'll let you know. Anyway, starting with this chapter I'll be spending a lot of time with each chapter to make sure their up to my standards. Thus the waits will probably be this long minimum and who knows how long maximum. Probably. Unless I get really bored and spend a week doing nothing but writing and rewriting a chapter until it's up to par.**

 **On to my concerns with the story and whatnot. So first of all, how was the chapter? Did you like it or hate it? I really don't know if this is going to be good or bad but I suppose I'll find out when people start reading it. On that note I want to say 2 things. 1st of all I'm not sure if you can tell, but I'm not the best at writing dialogue. It just doesn't come naturally to me. SO I want to apologize if that's dragging the story down. 2nd of all I have a question for anyone reading this. I know I'm not the best writer in the world, or in America, or probably in my town, so I'd really like a second opinion on these chapters before I get them published. On that note, because I don't know where else to ask, I was wondering if anyone wanted to volunteer to beta this story. I just need a second opinion. I think that the story is suffering because I'm the only one looking at it before each chapter get's released. For now I'm having my fried help me but he hasn't watched shippuden and isn't big on Naruto lore, so he can really only help with story pacing and spelling.**

 **Also I have a predicament I want to put out there, so if anyone feels like offering advice then feel free to. I want to get Naruto a summoning contract. That way he'd have sage mode and what not. But at the same time I feel like it would interfere with the whole "Naruto was lonely on Uzu and his only friend was Kurama" thing I have going**

 **1 final note before I give my goodbye spiel. After I upload this I'm going to reupload the first 2 chapters of this story to fix some minor spelling mistakes that I didn't notice the first time around. Also I changed one of Shikamaru's lines slightly in chapter 2 so he says that people are searching all over all 5 nations, not just Hi no Kuni.**

 **Now that I've got that out of the way I want to say thank you guys for reading this. It feels good to know that people like the slabs of text that I'm putting onto the internet. As always feel free to review, tell me if you like it, if you hate it, flame me because you can. I appreciate your opinion regardless. Have a nice day.**


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